Great Horned Owls, Mid-Winter by Sarah Russell

On our evening walk we hear them
in a stand of oak and pine–the female’s
breathy notes; the male’s answer, deeper,
like tones blown across a stoneware jug.
Before their sortie over snowy fields
they whisper greetings to their mates⸺
an alliance voiced in shadow. Our breath
clouds in the twilight.



Sarah Russell’s poetry and fiction have been published in Rattle, Misfit Magazine, Third Wednesday, Red Eft Review, and many other journals and anthologies. She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. She has 3 poetry collections published by Kelsay Books, I lost summer somewhere (2019), Today and Other Seasons (2020), and Emergence (2025). Her novella The Ballerina Swan Lake Mobile Homes Country Club Motel was published by Running Wild Press. She blogs at https://SarahRussellPoetry.net